Starting an eCommerce business and calling yourself an entrepreneur is pretty exciting. However, keeping up in the competitive industry takes a lot of work.
In fact, 9 out of 10 startups fail within a few years of operations. I am not telling you this to scare or make you nervous, but that’s fun about starting a business. Isn’t it?
You will make mistakes -- a lot of them, and everything will almost never go as you plan.
Accept that fact, and you’re ready to be an entrepreneur!
Sounds good? Let’s dive right in and look more closely at each of the seven most common mistakes to avoid. Click or tap a number below to skip to a mistake you are interested in learning more about.
From not writing a business plan to not finding an appropriate niche—here are seven mistakes you must consciously avoid while launching your eCommerce business.
One of the greatest mistakes most eCommerce entrepreneurs make is not determining the viability of their product and service offerings.
Making a product and expecting it to work wonders in the market without analytical insights or actions can lead to eCommerce failure.
Solid market research of the product, target audience, demand, and competition is the foundational basis for your eCommerce business.
Here are a few questions that can help you find a product-market fit for your eCommerce business:
The foundational research at the initial stages will help you design the product and services appropriate for the market.
There are hundreds of eCommerce platforms out there. Choosing a platform without any thorough consideration is probably not the best idea.
Cost is an essential factor when you choose an eCommerce platform. However, don’t let this single factor power your decision.
eCommerce platforms with negligent fees or freemium models offer only basic features. Moreover, they might not support a variety of tools that might be essential for your business.
Make a checklist of crucially important plugins, tools, and features to choose the ideal platform suited for your business.
Also, don’t forget to ensure that your chosen platform allows easy scalability for websites and web apps.
Additionally, consider the integration capabilities of the platform. An effective iPaaS solution can seamlessly connect your eCommerce platform with various business systems, ensuring streamlined operations and better data management.
It is where most eCommerce businesses fail. More than 88% of the customers leave the website and never return because of the poorly developed user interface.
Many things on your website come together to summarize the overall user experience. However, here are a few things you must get right:
Dive deep into studying the aspects of successful websites. Understand where and what features contribute to delivering a satisfactory customer experience.
Implement, monitor, and continuously practice new changes to satisfy your users.
Exceptional products need exceptional presentation. You need to work to develop a comprehensive product page to ensure you stand out in a competitive marketplace.
A lot goes into developing an effective product page. Here are a few things that can help you optimize your product pages:
Gather inspiration from successful eCommerce brands. Monitor their product pages closely and try mimicking their techniques for your business.
eCommerce is as complicated or even more than your traditional businesses. Just getting a product online won’t build you a successful business.
You need a business plan that lays your business goals, strategies, and policies in place.
Moreover, a business plan acts as a roadmap guiding you to run your business effortlessly, all while leaving room for changes within the plan.
You must write your business plan before you set up your business online.
It will help you identify overlooked areas of planning while making your business well-proofed against challenges in the future.
Source inspiration from relevant business plan examples online to help you write a fantastic plan.
And ensure that you add these critical components to your plan to make it comprehensive.
Writing an eCommerce business plan specific to your business can be challenging.
However, you may try a free business plan generator to prepare your concise plan in minutes.
Overall, well-proof your business with solid planning and execution before jumping in.
Another mistake many entrepreneurs make is assuming that a great product will sell itself. Break that myth before it starts eating your business.
There are millions of eCommerce businesses selling myriads of products and services online.
You need a solid and consistent marketing plan to make your product noticeable and desirable.
Yes, marketing will take thousands of dollars every month. However, the results you get regarding revenue and brand popularity are always multi-fold.
Let’s show you some effective tactics for your brand and product marketing:
Remember to create a marketing mix for your brand and the products. Experiment with different marketing mixes and continuously monitor the results.
Keep experimenting till you figure out the strategies that work in your favor.
You won't get a single sale if your website is not secure enough. Invest heavily in security tools and malware protection to secure the customer’s private data.
As the extent of eCommerce spreads, there is a spike in cyber attacks, phishing, and malware attacks, questioning the security of the biggest brands worldwide.
How do you improve website security? Well, these are the fundamentals to get started with:
Regarding security, it’s better to leave no stone unturned.
Wrapping up, the central theme is to remove every barrier that can affect your customer’s experience while on your e-commerce store.
From navigation to information to the checkout process and everything in between- the simpler the process, the better the satisfaction.
Now, identify where your mistakes lie, take corrective measures one at a time, and your e-commerce business will flourish.
Vinay Kevadiya
Vinay Kevadiya is the founder and CEO of Upmetrics, the #1 business planning software.
His ultimate goal with Upmetrics is to revolutionize how entrepreneurs create, manage, and execute their business plans.
He enjoys sharing his insights on business planning and other relevant topics through his articles and blog posts.